2017 thus far

2017 kicks off with a new team of conveners and long time supporters. In this newsletter you can meet them and get an idea of what lies ahead this year. It is also the year we co-host our Annual Conference Flourish! with the International Organisation Development Association.

Cape Town 2017

The Cape Town SAODN learning community have a convening team of enthusiastic volunteers who have planned a rich smorgasbord of learning for this year. Our intention is to invite knowledge experts to facilitate in a way which allows our OD community to bring their own learning into the process.

The team consists of Burgert Kirsten, Candice Nisbet, Tracy Brownlee and Lee Kingma. Juta have generously agreed to avail their training facility in Claremont for all the meetings for this year. This year we learned from John Paisley’s rich experience on the powerful synergy between coaching and change and Mish Middlemann facilitated an insightful session based on the Organisation, Relationship, Systems and Coaching model. In the following months we have invited Dr Annemarie Lombard to facilitate on Space and Collaboration, Dr Mark Orpen on Leadership and Resilience, Selma de Morney to engage us on a Talent Game and Julia Kukard on a theme of existential leadership.

We are also excited about the build up to the IODA Flourish Conference being hosted in our stunning Stellenbosch winelands in September. We look forward to seeing you at the next meeting and warmly invite new members to join – so spread the word of this powerful and engaged network.

Conveners and Learning Director

Candice Nisbet

Candice Nisbet

Candice Nisbet is an Organisational Development Enthusiast who is currently an OD Practitioner at Pepkor. This involves working with a diverse set clients within the Pepkor Group in a variety of areas, such as Team Development, Leadership, Coaching and Change Management etc. Candice has been a convenor for the SAODN in Cape Town for the two years.

Burgert Kirsten

Burgert Kirsten

Burgert facilitates transformation in individuals, leaders and teams/organisations. From being rigid, disconnected and unproductive to becoming adaptive, integrated and innovative. He does this by creating a space for people to do their best thinking, access their creativity, leverage diversity and take action in ways they never thought possible.

Tracy Brownlee

Tracy Brownlee

Tracy is a facilitator and systems coach. She combines her background in brand strategy, qualitative research, communication and project management, with experience in team effectiveness, and values-led culture change. Her work focuses on: Internal and External brand discovery and articulation; Purpose and values led strategy and culture change;Team systems coaching to build and support healthy and effective teams.

Lee Kingma

Lee Kingma

Lee is currently the Leadership Development Specialist for KAGISO Media. She has many years experience in OD and HRM with Juta, Securicor, Unilever and Deloitte.

About this year’s corner events The purpose of the OD Corner Events this year is to stir and stimulate interesting conversations about a variety of topics. We will hear from cutting-edge executives, ground-breaking academics, wise elders and rising stars. You will get the opportunity to interact, network, make friends and ask all those burning questions that come up as you journey through, and alongside, the organisations in your life. Considering that we live in such complex ‘interesting times’, you are guaranteed to come across ideas that are controversial, novel, stimulating and timely.

So what is an OD practitioner, and whose Corner Event is it anyway? This is perhaps a fair question that comes up for those wondering whether they should attend OD-related events, such as the upcoming Flourish! conference in September this year, and SAODN’s monthly Corner Events. If you are one of those wondering whether the world of OD concerns you, consider this. Life as we know it is entirely the result of what a wide range of organisations do, or don’t do. As so aptly phrased by researchers Jonker & Pennink (2010: 5), “Everything we do, buy, use, touch, make, sell, buy, utilize, throw away, burn, recycle or demolish is directly connected to the phenomenon of an organisation.”

Organisations are the places we laugh, cry, think, play, dream, dare, fight, cooperate, love, hate, invent, discover and grow. Hardly a day goes by where you don’t participate in, or are influenced by, some form of organisation. And yet, how much do we really know about the inner workings of these entities that so fundamentally shape our opinions, our aspirations, our careers and our lives? Wouldn’t you like to know? If so, consider yourself an OD practitioner!

Join us on a journey of discovery where we glimpse into the minds and hearts of organisations. We can’t promise to give you the golden key to unlock the eternal mysteries of management, leadership, team performance and employee satisfaction, but we might just surprise you with insights and learning from great speakers and discussions. If this sounds like your cup of tea, join us at our next OD Corner Event. And yes, there will be lots of cups of coffee and tea.

Conveners and Learning Directors

Halima Daniels

Halima Daniels

Halima is a coach, facilitator and consultant, with over 20 years experience, working with a few highly reputable corporates that have a presence in South Africa, Africa and internationally. She runs her own company, with focus on corporate coaching for individuals and teams, leadership development and Organisational Consulting. Her experience extends into the private and public sectors.

Janet du Preez

Janet du Preez

Janet du Preez is a versatile leadership and organisational effectiveness practitioner and a passionate, provocative and creative thinker. She uses her well-honed coaching, facilitation, process development and strategic consulting skills to engage talent, passion, insight and action in pursuit of great leadership and effective systems. She is completing an MSc through the da Vinci institute developing a universal, integrated sense-making framework for engagement in organisations.

Lindie Botha

Lindie Botha

Lindie has worked with NGOs and social innovators since 1998, gaining experience in Europe, West, East and Southern Africa. She has designed, implemented and supported award-winning projects and has worked successfully with a variety of international donors. Lindie assists her clients in South Africa to develop their managers and organisations into effective and imaginative agents for societal change. Lindie is a PHD student at UCT’s Graduate School of Business.

Tanya Cruz Teller

Tanya Cruz Teller

Tanya is a passionate, creative leader of systemic change processes founded on principles of personal transformation, collaborative partnerships, whole systems thinking and appreciative inquiry. She has 20+ years of experience as an innovative learning and management professional in international and community development, OD, HR. She champions strengths-based design in strategic planning, leadership development, & stakeholder engagement. Tanya holds a Masters in International and Intercultural Management.

Upcoming Dates:

March 14th • May 16th • June 20th • July 21st • August 22nd • September 12th • October 10th • November 21st